Can Tim Burns Turn Murtha’s District Republican?
by John Gizzi
03/15/2010
About two months after Scott Brown’s smashing victory in the race to fill Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat in Massachusetts, the stage is now set for a May 12 special election likely to be considered a referendum on the Obama Administration and one in which a Republican could succeed a high-profile Democrat.
Last week, bowing to the wishes of the late congressman’s widow Joyce, Democratic leaders in the Western Pennsylvania district nominated Murtha’s longtime top aide Mark Critz to run for the vacant seat. In so doing, the Democrats rejected two other candidates, including former State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Barbara Hafer.
At their own conclave of party leaders, Republicans rejected ’08 nominee and retired U.S. Army officer Bill Russell (who drew 42% of the vote against Murtha two years ago) in favor of area businessman and political newcomer Tim Burns. Although local GOPers hailed Russell for his military background and strong showing against the late congressman, there was nonetheless a feeling, Keystone State GOP sources told me, that Burns would be a better candidate and present a sharper contrast to Democrat Critz.
Russell had previously signaled that he would run for nomination to the full term for Congress in the Republican primary in May, which will be held on the same day as the special election to fill out Murtha’s term; but historically, when races like this are held at the same time, voters tend to give their party’s nominee in a special House election another “crack” at the seat in the general election.
When I spoke to Burns less than 24 hours after his nomination, he wasted little time in spelling out the differences between himself and the 48-year-old Critz.
“He’s a bureaucrat and I’m a businessman,” Burns told me, “He’s never created a job in his life and I’ve created 400 jobs in the private sector. He symbolizes what’s broken in Washington and, while I wouldn’t describe serving in Congress as my ‘dream job,’ I got into this race because I wanted to fix things.”
Turning to specific issues, the 41-year-old businessman-candidate told me that he opposed the “Obamacare” package ...
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